


The Snow Cat

by Cactusing (jojo_cactus)



Series: Shapeshifters Universe [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-10 23:16:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5604646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jojo_cactus/pseuds/Cactusing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh, Law,” Corazon whispers, dabbing his eyes with an obnoxiously pink and heart-patterned handkerchief. “Isn’t he beautiful?”</p><p>Law chooses to ignore that. There’s nothing appealing, certainly not beautiful, about the squirming piece of meat yonder. </p><p>-<br/>Luffy remembers more of their past interactions than does Law, it seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Snow Cat

The first time Law sees Luffy is at the pup’s baptism, in the deep mountains east of Kuraigana. He’s seven, the pup a mere ten days old. It’s supposed to be a blissful day - the current leader of the wolves and his mate hadn’t produced a single pup in the past ten years of their marriage - but he watches the dark-grey thing open and close its small mouth in endless squeals with growing distaste. Everyone else present at the ceremony is ecstatic, for sure: Corazon, for one, is practically _vibrating_ his almost three meters of a body beside him. It’s just that Law detests any and all kind of preparations for formal events.

Well, the flamingos’, at least. He likes looking simple and well-kempt, not sickeningly dressed up in the bright yellow feather coat he’s stuck in. It’s _August_ , for sanity’s sake. The birds down from south may find the shadows of densely packed trees chilling but for Law, who grew up in the frozen north, even that comes dangerously close to suffocating.

“Oh, Law,” Corazon whispers, dabbing his eyes with an obnoxiously pink and heart-patterned handkerchief. “Isn’t he beautiful?”

Law chooses to ignore that. There’s nothing appealing, certainly not beautiful, about the squirming piece of meat yonder. The high priest scoops it up out of its crib now, gently and securely holds its fighting legs down in his arms, and brings it over to the baptismal font in the middle of the open forest. At least the wolves are sensible enough to have the ceremony outside, Law thinks he might have fainted otherwise.

“He’s got his grandfather’s eyes. Lord Garp must be so happy,” his guardian continues. How on earth he can make out the pup’s eyes from this distance is a mystery; Law on his part can’t even tell where its _face_ is. It’s still probably deaf and blind at this stage, anyway.

He’s mildly interested if the priest will drown the wailing thing, but to his profound disappointment the aged man simply splashes holy water over it. There’s chanting in the background from the choir and it’s soft and quite, meant to be soothing, but that does nothing to lift his mood.

Then the pup all but shrieks, louder than expected from any newborn animals, and the ceremony gets temporarily halted. It provides ample opportunity for Law to slip away, dumping his feather coat and silk shoes as he does.

Mere minutes pass before he realizes the grave mistake of being a lone cat among dogs and finds himself being chased by some wolf pups. They’re too young to understand his significance, a rare snow leopard, and so is Law.

Corazon later finds him atop a tall tree, shivering in cold and humiliation, and wordlessly collects him in his feathers.

Law vows to erase the day from his memory.

 

  

The second time he sees Luffy, he’s already a young adult. Corazon of course disagrees: seventeen is still basically a toddler. Unfortunately for him, Law cares little. He’s already had his first heat and feels more or less like an adult, even if he barely comes up to the flamingo’s waist. Whatever, the birds are an impossibly tall bunch.

Like he swore, he’s forgotten all about the pup by then. But its mess of black hair and infectious, uncontrolled laughter somehow throw him back to that baptism scene in the forest.

They’re at Sengoku’s court, currently celebrating his sixty-something birthday. Law always thought bears and wolves were unlikely to be friends, but Corazon’s foster father and Garp have maintained their odd comradeship for more than anyone else in both families has been alive and this year, the entire royal pack has come down to the south to offer their congratulations.

Law only gives the pup a curt nod when formal introductions are made and spends the rest of the banquet watching it from a reserved distance. It may have multiplied in size, but he has difficulty bringing himself to think of it as more than that mewling lump ten years ago. Be that as it may, there’s something strangely pleasant about seeing that it has grown into a fine boy. He watches the way it moves, the seemingly endless energy bursting out of that small body; the way it eats, as if it’s been starved for days when he’s sure it’s properly fed in the plentiful mountains; and the way it plays with its older relatives and just about wrecks everything in the great hall.

At one point the pup runs right into him and Law almost topples and falls; it’s a good thing he’s a cat in situations like this. It has him disconcerted, and his pride a little hurt, because he has no idea where it came from. He was sure it was bouncing off the walls on the other side of the hall mere seconds ago.

Rubbing his sore thigh he looks down at Luffy, whose head comes short at his waist level. Its ears and tail are disproportionately large for its body and for a millisecond Law feels an urge to scruffle the black hair, just so he knows what it feels like under his fingers. He notices, after a beat, that the pup has the biggest grin on its face and that it’s craning its little head back to see him. Before he can think of anything appropriate to say, it rubs both its cheeks against his still throbbing thigh and darts away.

Law’s left dumbfounded and stuck to the ground; he doesn’t know what to make of it.

In the end, he decides that wolves are crazy.

 

 

The third time he sees the pup, it’s kneeling and has its head bobbing between his legs. He supposes he should make changes to the pronoun: Luffy’s no longer a child at eighteen, especially if he’s capable of stepping out of his clothes completely unabashed for what Law hopes will entail an intercourse.

 _It’s wrong_ , a voice insists somewhere in his brain, and he easily shuts it down as he presses Luffy’s head for deeper insertion. The teen chokes under his hand but doesn’t protest much; he faithfully swallows down on his entire length or what he’s able to hold at least, and runs a warm tongue on its underside. Law throws his head back and moans in pleasure, his fingers curling around the surprisingly silky black hair. Occasionally a sharp canine brushes against his skin and has him suck his breath in, until the wolf mumbles an apologetic noise and laps at the spot for remedy. It’s not the best he’s had and he can tell Luffy’s probably had minimal experience, if any at all - he doesn’t know what to do with his hands, for example, having them awkwardly placed on Law’s thighs - but it’s not terrible and he feels like company for once. His only concern is how he ended up in bed with the young wolf.

To be absolutely honest with himself, Law already knows the answer. Sengoku needs some delivery done and he happens to be the only one around. The next thing he knows he’s in the coach to Kuraigana, then on foot climbing the mountains for what feels like eternity until the retired wolf lord’s villa comes into view.

And the pup - the wolf, Luffy, whatever - is just there.

It’s sitting at its grandfather’s feet, playing with some kind of a puzzle, and its entire face lits up like the sun when Law enters the hall. There are intense stares throughout dinner, too many brushes of their hands and arms and thighs to be accidental, and it occurs to Law that he hasn’t been laid in months. So he follows the teen down the dark hallway, past the guest room made up for him. They quickly undress themselves behind closed doors.

“Torao,” it-he now calls. Law has yet to figure out where the nickname comes from, but right now he’s too entranced to care. “Torao.”

He raises his upper body and looks at the other. Luffy’s dark brown eyes meet his own and he feels even more heat rush to his belly.

“Can I kiss you?” Luffy asks, his cheeks flushed and mouth wet with saliva and precum. The thick grey tail sways gently from side to side, and keeps on wagging, waiting for an answer. Realizing he's been staring for too long without saying a word, Law hastily nods.

The teen hesitates. One would expect him to be playful in bed since he’s so loud and energetic all the time - Law knows that much already and he’s only ever really met him twice - but the teen has been surprisingly quiet and _cautious_ so far.

He waits. Luffy reaches out with an uncharacteristically serious look on his boyish face and carefully cups his face with both hands, drawing them into a slow kiss. It’s chaste at first, a small peck on the lips, then lips meet. It goes on for a while, until the teen finally licks at his lips, testing the waters to see if he’ll give and give he does. Law doubts anyone’s fond of their own taste, but he decides the amount of passion Luffy pours into just one kiss makes up for that even though it’s flimsy and they keep locking their teeth against each other’s. Or even though their fangs chafe their lips once or twice and there’s blood on their tongues. The heat mounts quickly and their movements become more and more aggressive with passing second.

His hands roam over the teen’s sunkissed skin, gripping at that lean and pleasantly tactile arms and scratching where the shoulder blades protrude. He wishes Luffy would do something about their erect cocks, they rub against each other and it almost hurts with anticipation, but the kid’s lost with hands again. Dragging his tongue across the teen’s mouth, Law removes one hand of rom his neck and guide it to their demanding parts. It needs Luffy some demonstration to get the idea across, but soon he’s using both hands to pump them fast and there’s much moaning into the kiss.

The relatively coarse tail brushes past his hand and he gives an experimental squeeze at its root, just above the perky buttocks, and receives a startled cry to his entertainment. Luffy finally lets go of his neck and looks at him with bewildered eyes, redness spreading from his cheeks down to the slender neck and shoulders. Law’s lips curl into a silent snigger. Another firm squeeze and the wolf yelps, and claws dig into Law’s shoulders. He hardly stirs at the pain, it only ever adds to the excitement.

In a swift movement Law throws Luffy on his knees, notwithstanding the deep red trails the latter leaves on his arms.

“Oil,” he demands, hooking each hand under the teen’s knees and spreading them apart. “We need oil.”

Luffy looks over his shoulders at him blankly, the expression on his face so lost and heated that Law can practically hear his patience fall apart.

“Something, anything to help with the lubrication,” he spits on his palm and reaches down to rub it over the entrance for demonstration.

“Th-there’s wine on the table?” the wolf trips on his words, his eyes fixated on the movement below.

“No, not wine. What about oil for hair, there must be some in your room.”

His profile snaps to the small bedside table with shelves and Law needs no more prompting. He quickly searches through them and finds a small vial containing a transparent yellow liquid. It’s full and he doubts if the teen ever uses it; for them that’s certainly better.

“Keep your tail up,” he orders and Luffy promptly obeys, lifting his tail and laying it flat against his back. Coating his fingers in oil, Law lands a slap on Luffy’s thighs before bringing it up level with his groin. “and spread wide for me.”

Luffy hides his face in the pillow when a finger enters him. The muscles are taut around his finger and Law wonders for a second if he’ll ever get there. Most certainly not if the other’s all tensed up like this, so he begins kissing and nipping at the back of Luffy’s neck and shoulder blades and runs a hand up and down his sides. He manages to slip in the second finger soon enough and rubs at the muscles up and down, and gently coaxes the teen into moving his own hips in tandem.

Just when he’s about to add the third, the wolf’s tail flies into his face. Law grabs it in reflex and pushes it aside.

“Sorry,” he says when Luffy groans. “but keep it out of the way, please, will you?”

Sweat trickles into his eyes. Law’s close, so very close to entering, his hands shake as he pour the rest of oil on his still thankfully hard cock. He plants another kiss on the wolf’s shoulder and positions himself, then - then the tail hits him right across the face.

Perhaps this wasn’t the best position for them. Law flips Luffy, so that the latter’s lying flat on his back now. Before Luffy can protest his loss of cover, Law’s already pushing in. Clawed hands latch onto his arms and a part of him vaguely wishes the wolf has enough self-control, he doesn’t want to walk around with shredded limbs later on. He continues to push until he’s all the way in and he can’t tell which is stronger, the pain in his arms from scratching or in his lower body from Luffy clenching tight around him. And the heat - it’s incredibly hot, and he can feel it shoot across the rest of his body.

Law stills when he’s in to the hilt and furrows his brows in concentration; he’s already this close to coming from before. Clenching the sheets on the sides of Luffy he looks down at the wolf, taking big gulps of air to calm his breath.

Luffy for his part looks surprised. His eyes are again fixed on their lower parts and they’re in earnest surprise, as if he can’t believe what’s happening to him, as if the idea’s never occurred to him before.

“Oh,” he merely says.

“Are you in pain?” Law asks calmly.

“No,” the teen shifts, finding leverage on his elbows, then rolls his hips. Law wasn’t ready for it - he moans, rather loudly to his embarrassment.

He ignores Luffy’s wide-eyed gaze at him and thrusts forward, landing with more force than he envisioned.

“Oh.”

The hands grip his arms hard again and Luffy’s eyes return to where they were, but that’s still the only thing he utters. Law struggles to suppress rising annoyance; he’s never been returned with _this_ before. He’s confident he performs well enough in bed, and some has even told him they had their best nights with him, so the wolf’s being pretty damaging to his self-esteem right now.

He bends over Luffy and begins fucking into him at painfully slow pace, pulling out almost but for the tip and driving home in a long single push. With each thrust the teen gasps and rubs its face against the pillow, his large ears twitching rhythmically. The movement reveals a mouthwatering neck in full sight and Law takes full advantage of it, covering it with bite marks and hickeys, down to those bony clavicles.

Gradually, but surely Luffy’s eyes come undone; they’re close to tipping over and letting go completely. He remains oddly quiet, though.

“Does it feel good?” Law brings himself to ask because he’s suddenly not sure if Luffy’s even paying attention any more. He looks _distant_ , staring into the air beside Law’s head. If it weren’t for his flushed face covered in sweat, one would think the teen was daydreaming.

But he responds. Luffy’s head turns to lock eyes with him and he nods when he finds his throat too dry to speak. A relieved sigh escapes Law’s mouth without him noticing; he really didn’t want to pose that question a second time. He kisses him before he asks anything stupid again and picks up his pace.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” pants Luffy after the kiss. He’s thrown his arms around Law, and their faces are very close like this.

He shrugs, he doesn’t know what to say. Something eggs at him in a corner of his mind, though what he cannot identify. He avoids the burning eyes that are back on his face and focuses on the pleasure down below, his movement growing offbeat as it escalates. Strong arms draw him into a tighter embrace, wet breaths dangerously close to his sensitive ears. The smell of sex is hypnotizing, heavy with sweat and blood, and he inhales deeply in the scent of warm sunlight radiating off the body under him.

“Torao,” Luffy cries out when the leopard sits up and drags him onto his laps. Law enters him deep from below, using both hands to hoist Luffy’s hips in place and to drag him down with him when he pulls away. He sways and falls backward. Law frees a hand and lays it on the back of Luffy’s head, bringing him to lean against his shoulders. His other thumb rubs over the root of the tail, where he extracts a long shaky moan from the teen.

Momentum picks up. Law kneads the plump ass in his hands, spreading them wide as he thrusts in and out. He’s got his head tilted at an angle so that he expertly wraps his tongue around one of the perky nipples. Loud pants and groans fill the room, together with slapping of flesh. There’s a constant growl underneath it all, and Law realizes with a start that it’s coming from him.

“Torao,” the wolf calls him, desperate and needy. “Torao, Torao.”

“Do you like it?” he asks, nibbling on Luffy’s jaw line.

“Yes,” he sounds like he’s almost sobbing. “I like it - I like you, Torao.”

Luffy whines loudly when Law comes inside him, losing control and digging his own claws into the flesh. He follows soon after, ejaculating into Law’s hand.

They remain still for a minute, then Law rolls off and lands face down on the sheets. The teen nudges his side, to which he opens his arm in reflex. Luffy’s small for a gray wolf at five seven, especially so when compared to other men in his family, but that way they fit perfectly against each other. A low purr rises in the leopard’s throat. He feels content and warm, like a kitten after feeding. Sleep tugs at his eyes and he yawns; that’s just about the exercise he needed for a good night’s sleep.

He’s halfway asleep when the young wolf speaks up. It’s more like he confesses: “I like you” is a bit hard to misunderstand.

Law widens his eyes in shock. This has been nice. Satisfactory. He thinks he likes Luffy as well, against all odds. But he’s also reminded of the wolves’ old-fashioned ways, of their peculiarity about traditional marriage. Cats are generally more lenient about that and Law’s had multiple partners at once, without having to go through whatever ceremonies the old geezers in long powdered wigs at the Church insist on. The fact Luffy sought him out first was partly why he let himself to be taken to bed, because he thought the pup was more open in that way. It now dawns on him that Luffy’s possibly been imagining about this far longer than he has.

He can almost see Corazon in the room, waving his freakishly long fingers and somehow setting himself on fire simultaneously, lecturing about his most idiotic and reckless decision yet to sleep with the grandson of the fearsome wolf lord of all people. Not to mention unmarried and likely virgin. Law mentally pictures the army of angry wolves in his mind, fiercely protective of their young, and briefly considers whether he should just jump out the window before morning comes.

“When?” he asks stupidly. Maybe he’s overthinking it; Luffy merely said he liked him, after all. There was nothing grand like love.

The thick tail softly strokes his arms and Law shivers against his will. He’s not sure if he can ever look at those dark brown eyes again - they  feel strangely innocent, too much like a child’s.

“I don’t really know,” Luffy replies happily. He begins rubbing his cheeks against Law’s chest and the leopard almost pushes him away, that’s just like when he was a fist-sized pup. Then Luffy _giggles_  - that’s so not very helpful. “I really liked the way you smelled when I met you at Gramps Sengoku’s birthday…”

So he remembers that. Law swallows hard, terror slowly creeping over him.

“...then I saw you in at the palace in Kuraigana last winter, no wait, the winter before last winter, and you smelled so much _nicer_. But I didn’t go say hi because Ace and I weren’t really supposed to be there and Zoro only let us stay in his room because of Sanji.”

This is completely news to him. He remembers the visit well enough. He's playing the messenger again, delivering a letter from the Witch of the East to Mihawk. The climate of far north suits  him the best but Kuraigana's is passable, or he at least finds it far more enjoyable than down south. So he spends the winter there.

“How long were you- why were you even there? No, how did I not know you were there the entire time?” he questions in disbelief.

“Zoro made us rub this disgusting oil they use in the palace so our scents wouldn’t give us away,” Luffy explained innocuously. “Oh yeah, Sanji couldn’t visit us because he broke his leg that winter. Gramps won’t let us go either, bad snow or whatever, but we did anyway.”

That year the east coast saw unusual numbers of snowstorms and avalanches. Garp must be worried sick with his son and his wife away, forever on travels, and he has the most troublesome grandkid on top of it. Ace, if Law remembers correctly, is a relative, nevertheless part of the royal pack and therefore under Garp’s protection.

“I wanted to go visit you after that, too, but I didn’t know where to find you and Gramps won’t let me leave the villa this time,” the wolf continues. “You turned up when I was least expecting to see you.”

“Uh-huh,” he answers half-heartedly.

Two years ago Luffy would have been sixteen, around when most go through their first heat. If he’s managed to stay a virgin until now, then he probably has it less severe than others do. Still, that’s when he found Law’s scent desirable and it’s no wonder the impression stuck with him for two years. Exactly what did the attraction, he’ll never know; it seems like cats and dogs are no longer vehemently repulsed by each other.

“We need to clean ourselves,” Law states finally. Scrub everything off and leave this behind. It’s been nice, hasn’t it? He feels a pang of guilt in his chest, but he’ll be gone in the morning and Luffy will forget about him soon enough now that he’s been indulged.

“I wish Ace were here, he can heat up water really fast,” Luffy sighs as he leaves his arms, a sheet wrapped around his thin frame, and throws a log into the fireplace. He slings a big cauldron over the fire and adds water to it from a jar. Law watches him without a word; he’s most glad the pup’s older brother isn’t in the villa. He’s heard about the fiery temper all too often and he doesn’t even know the man.

Luffy returns after some time with a large bowl in his hands, thick towels around it to keep them from burning, and rests it on the bedside table. They work in silence, first peeling the sheets of the bed (Law half considers feeding them to the fire), and damping their towels in the hot water to clean themselves.

“I like your tail,” says Luffy abruptly. Law’s looking for his trousers and he can’t decide if he likes the teen staring at his rear - tail - with curiously lit eyes.

“What’s there to like about?” he answers conversationally.

“It’s fluffy and thick, but still longer than mine,” the wolf’s hands twitch, as if in need of its presence. “and it’s got nice marks. Kind of reminds me of those you had on your skin before, but you don’t have them now.”

Law raises an eyebrow at that. There used to be white marks on his body, like Luffy says, but they are history. He’s pretty sure he’s lost them by the time they saw each other at Sengoku’s birthday and the pup possibly can’t remember it from his baptism.

“They were from a disease. I’m all right now,” he adds when the other looks shocked. “When did you see them?”

“A long time ago, I guess,” Luffy wrinkles his nose in concentration. “I was really young. And you were young too! You were _tiny._ ”

“I still don’t remember when and where we could have possibly met, other than the times we’ve already talked about.”

“I wasn’t stalking you that time, I promise,” he smiles widely. “I didn’t even know what your name was until two winters ago. But I remembered your scent. Let me think, it was your birthday? Mom baked pie for you and she was upset because I ate it.”

“Oh.”

He remembers. Birthdays are among the long list of formalities and festivities he dislikes with passion, except for Corazon’s birthday maybe, and as a result he’s had only a handful of birthday parties thrown in his name. All of them have been his foster family’s doing, come to think of it. One of them returns to him in memory now, when he’s thirteen and at his most difficult age thanks to the rapid spread of Amber Lead Syndrome on him seemingly without a cure. Sengoku doesn’t know how to handle his mood swings and Corazon’s busy, setting himself on fire as per usual. They still manage to put up a small birthday party for him, in hopes a change of company improves his depression. It doesn’t.

But he does remember the pie, a sweet little thing with cherries on top, and a certain pup swimming in it later in the day. He remembers locking eyes with it as it climbs away from what used to be a pie and seats itself in front of him on the table. The adults go absolutely quiet and Sengoku probably thinks Law will throw the biggest tantrum ever, only this time he doesn’t. Or he doesn’t get to, because the pup jumps on him and begins licking him all over instantly. It’s shouting “Happy birthday” at the top of its voice.

It is another horrible day in his book, so he erases it from memory. He has a lot of those if anyone’s interested.

As he looks at Luffy looking back at him, though, maybe it’s returned to stay.

“You didn’t look very happy,” Luffy’s reflecting. “sometimes you don’t look too happy now still. I think you’re definitely happier, though.”

“You care.” It’s a statement, not a question.

The wolf blushes a little. “I like you,” he answers simply. “I like it when you smile.”

“Huh,” is all he has to say.

When Luffy settles back against his pillow, Law lies down with him. An arm slips under his neck and curls around his shoulders into an embrace, and Luffy’s more than eager to comply. Sleep comes for them soon, the crackling of fire a comforting lullaby.

 

Morning isn’t as bad as he imagines it to be. Turns out Ace returned in the dark of the night, which earns Law an extra punch in the face. It hurts like hell but it’s fine, he’s lived through worse.

Luffy barely stops his brother from setting the leopard on fire and Garp’s threats to throw them both out in the cold turn weightless with the news of a snowstorm in the air. Grudgingly, the aged wolf allows Law to stay until it clears. His family will hear of this, of course. Somehow he doesn’t care so much, unlike last night. Sengoku can yell at him all his might but he’ll come around. Corazon can pretend to be mad at him for hours tops then he’ll act all fatherly again.

He glances down at the wolf, who hasn’t left his side for once that morning, and throws another at their intertwined tails and his resolution hardens: he’ll be fine, he’ll stay.


End file.
